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 Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:04 pm
(Jul 12) The situation becomes stickier...
This was beginning to become routine, Mouse decided, weeding the garden with Morbus curled up on the lawn.
"...so I'm thinking of taking Nemo up on her offer to watch over Galerus and Lemon while I take a short trip."
Morbus' sightless eye sockets examined his claws.
~And does this "Nemo" have any clue as to what the hell she's agreeing to? I wouldn't wish either of those two on anyone who had no idea about them.~
Mouse nods.
"She's seen them both now. And I believe she's fully capable of handling this. Besides, I want you and Gemwing to stick around just in case."
~I expected nothing else.~
He stretches and looks up at Mouse.
~So...what does this trip accomplish?~
Mouse stops and turns.
"The most important part is that I'll be seeing the Orbmaster, just like I told you I would. After that, I'll try and see how Thunderclaw is doing. Following that...we'll see what comes up."
Morbus thought about asking just who Thunderclaw was, but decided he'd be better off not knowing.
~Fair enough. And this will take how long?~
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:06 pm
(Jul 23) Explanations...
Tenuis was, on the whole, a rather good-natured dragon prone to pranking others. She usually took bad news with a grin and a laugh.
Usually.
~What is that woman thinking?~
The dracling fumed.
~She can't just go off like that! Galerus needs her! You need her! That other one needs her! You have to convince her to stay!~
Morbus sighed and scratched his skull. He honestly hadn't expected Tenuis to react like this. He'd thought that she'd see it as another adventure.
Clearly he'd been mistaken.
~Tenuis...it's her choice. And...she really needs a vacation. Please, trust me to know what's in her mind.~
~You I trust. Her I don't.~
The dracling stated firmly.
~She can't take a day at the spa like every other woman? She has to go on some mysterious trip? I refuse to accept it!~
Now and then her tail and wings almost entirely lost their wispy appearances, a sure sign of Tenuis' anger.
Morbus sighed. Tenuis, he'd learned, was stubborn as a mule when she wished to be.
~Mouse is not like other women. That's part of why we love her. Please Tenuis...go along with this. Galerus really needs your support right now.~
Maybe if it was on behalf of someone else? Morbus groaned inwardly. He really wasn't cut out for this people thing.
~Oh he does, does he? Morbus, I love Galy dearly, but he's not going to break into pieces on me. Trust me to know his mind, will you?~
Tenuis moved around the clearing in a manner that, on anyone else, would be called pacing.
~Tenuis...I'm not sure you're taking this seriously enough.~
Morbus thought back to the look Galerus had worn after Mouse had returned and disappeared upstairs. He'd looked like he'd lost everything.
~I think Galerus may have some serious separation issues, and as his dragon, it's your responsibility to be there for him.~
~Oh you think so, do you?~
Tenuis snarled, her temper quite frayed.
~Is this a conversation or a lecture, Morbus? Because if it's a lecture, I'm leaving.~
The younger dragon had turned a smokey grey.
~I'm trying to give you fair warning and some advice. I just saw Galerus, and he didn't seem to be taking this news too well either. It's for his sake that I'm trying to convince you!~
Morbus ended, shouting at the stubborn dracling.
~Thank you,~ he said sarcastically, ~for hearing me out. Now that I've said my piece, I'm out of here.~
And he vanished angrily.
Tenuis blinked. Then she gaped in a grin. She'd actually made him lose his temper! Now that was an accomplishment!
But as for what he'd said...Tenuis became serious again. She had sensed the difference in Galerus' emotions, but hadn't really given much thought to them until now. She sighed. This wouldn't be a fun trip...but she'd give everything she had to Galerus. That's what dream dragons did...right?
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:09 pm
(Aug 14) MOUSE'S JOURNAL
There's a time, sometime during battle, when you stop fighting people and they're just mannequins. Sure they scream in pain and twitch and moan, but it blends in with the overall clamor. And you keep fighting like a well-oiled machine. If you have a major wound that inhibits action, you take it into account and worry later.
I feel like the mannequins right now. These pets...no, I'll call them what they are. These children are pulling my life this way and that, and I feel as if I'm no longer in control.
I need this vacation. If Morbus hadn't grown and Nemo hadn't offered and she also hadn't scared the s**t out of Galerus...it doesn't bear thinking about.
But I love them. I love them all.
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:35 pm
(RP exercpt involving Tenuis)
Galerus sleeps like a rock.
After about half an hour of fiddling with the drawer, Jokered finally hits on the key to picking the complex lock. (Man, she could be a master thief.) With a soft click, the drawer pops partway open. Inside is...
...a slingshot. It's rather old, and crudely made out of some very pale wood. The rubber is stiff with disuse and doesn't move very easily. Notches have been carved in the handle to make it the perfect left-handed grip. Aside from the archaic toy, there is nothing else in the drawer.
Jokered picked it up and investigated it. She pulled back the elastic a few times, then looking around the room for something to test she remembered the buttons. She took a few from the draw and smiled. *she randomly shot them around the room humming to herself quietly
The buttons don't fly farther than a yard from Jokered, due to the age of the rubber. Landing on the carpeting (and sleeping bags) the buttons don't make much noise.
And one lands on Galerus' face.
The boy slaps it, as he would a fly, mumbles to himself in his sleep, and rolls over, pulling the sleeping bag over his face.
Jokered gasped and covered her mouth when she hit him hoping he wouldn't wake up. She hid the slingshot behind her back but Galy just rolled over an went back to sleep. She sighed with relief. Her aim was getting a little better. She scanned the room to see what she could hit.
Galerus slept on, oblivious.
However, an out of place mist was forming behind Jokered. She might sense the magic in the air, and turn to see a wispy dragon glaring right at her. Tenuis was not pleased.
~I'll thank you for not injuring my Dreamer,~ she said directly into Jokered's mind.
Jokered shreiked loud and high pitched, she was to preoccupied to sence anything but that voice, the things in her head. She dropped the slingshot and ran for the door causeing her to trip over Galy and face plant into the ground. Crying loudly she stumbled around and eventually backed up against the wall crying harder.
Galerus bolted upright in bed...right in time to be knocked over by Jokered. He saw stars for long moments, until his head finally stopped spinning and registered that a) Jokered had screamed, b) she'd tripped over him (weren't girls supposed to be graceful?) and c) Tenuis was on the other side of the room wearing a self-satisfied smile.
'What the hell did you do to her?' Galerus signed angrily at the dragon.
~Saved you embarrassment,~ Tenuis replied smugly, uncaring if Jokered still heard her or not. Galerus was her Dreamer, and no other woman could have him.
Jokered looked over at Galy "I didn't do anything!" She sniffed "Honest!" She moved from the wall behind Galy as far from Tenuis as she could get
Galerus frowned. It was as if Tenuis and Jokered were carrying on some conversation of their own that he had no knowledge of.
And at the moment, only Tenuis could understand him.
Shaking his head, he went to get a translator, slamming the door behind him.
As Galerus left, Tenuis gave Jokered a nasty smile, filled with misty teeth.
~Of course you didn't do anything,~ she told the girl, honey covering her voice, ~that is, except for trying to take my Dreamer.~ The dragon advanced until she was inches from Jokered.
~He's mine,~ the dragon hissed. ~So keep your thoughts off him.~
Jokered screamed and ran again to the corner, why had Galy left her alone with this.. THING. Something about the floating mist seemed to get to Jokered more than usual, something was familiar about it but she didn't know what nor was she in the mood to care.
Tenuis simply chuckled nastily...there were no corners in the room, as Jokered didn't seem to realize.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs coming up.
Jokered curled into a ball hoping that whoever it was that came through the door would help her...
"Tenuis, out." Mouse snapped at the dragon. "I don't know what you've been up to, but I have guesses." She glared at the misty dragon.
Tenuis hissed at Mouse, gave Galerus a pleading look, and glared at Jokered. ~Fine,~ she snarled, and faded away.
Galerus sighed and went over to Jokered, patting her back. It was going to be okay...really...
Mouse sighed and shook her head. "It seems we'll have to send you on your way, Miss. You've managed to get two thirds of the house on edge in less than a day. Come on downstairs and get some breakfast," she told the girl, gesturing for Jokered to come with her.
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:52 pm
Realizations...
Galerus had been searching the dreamland for what seemed like hours. He hadn't found one misty trace of Tenuis anywhere, and was beginning to get quite worried.
He was also starting to feel the faint tuggings that meant he'd wake up soon from this natural sleep.
"TENUIS!" he howled with mind and voice.
Only the fleeting wind answered him.
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Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:48 pm
Loneliness...
It had been a long time since she'd spoken with Morbus. A very long time since they'd met face to face. She couldn't help feeling guilty about it, about neglecting him and the rest of the family she'd created in Gaia. Galerus refused to speak to her in any form now, Lemon was comforting Galerus...and her dreams were silent. Was Morbus also ignoring her?
She could offer excuses for hours, but it didn't change the fact that she'd been gone for almost a year with no warning at all. The woman known as Mouse sighed. The trial had been long and hard and she had looked forward to returning to Gaia, where she wouldn't have to worry about any of that s**t.
But she'd forgotten about the other responsibilities she had. True, they weren't as old as the ones that had kept her away for so long, but that didn't make them any less valid.
Something gleamed and caught her eye on the dusty surface of her bedside table. An orb, colored like Morbus. The memory came to her, at that point, of Kapu Ahi offering the orbs to Mouse and several others who had fought against the darkness in the dream realm. A sad smile lit her weary face. Perhaps if she were to keep it close, maybe it would bring Morbus back to her.
The green-haired woman collapsed into her hammock bed, orb clutched tight in one fist.
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:57 pm
New beginnings...
Mouse eyed the goblet with severe misgivings. It had...appeared. Mysteriously. And it didn't look quite the way Morbus' goblet had. Nor did it smell quite like it. The odor reminded her of rotting corpses, evoking memories best left forgotten.
But, staring at it wasn't going to change things. She had to admit, if only to herself, that she did want this. Morbus was all grown up and standing on his own two! legs, and she had to admit, she did miss having younger creatures running around...whether it was the house or her dreams.
"Bottoms up," she muttered, and choked down the contents of the goblet before curling up in her hammock.
Blood. The smell was overwhelming and overpowering, seasoned with a touch of decay. It was...familiar.
She opened her eyes. The mountains around her were dark, and in this dream they seemed to be the reddish brown of dried blood, rather than the greenish brown of a fertile land they had been when she saw them in person. There was a sick feeling in her stomach as she recognized the shape of the mountains. She knew what happened next, and she couldn't stop it. She looked down.
This valley had been a fertile place, and peaceful. High in the mountains that surrouneded it, it was not the most accessible place, but was known for its produce and the wool its sheep produced. The village here had been full of friendly and easygoing people.
Now, it was full of blood.
The liquid was above her ankles, and that wasn't all of it. Bones, as well as bits of flesh and viscera, were mixed in. None of the pieces was larger than the palm of her hand. The village itself had been burned almost to the ground. Here and there, burnt timbers poked above the surface of the red pool the valley had become.
In real life, she hadn't been alone here. And her troop had added to the smell and the mess by losing the contents of their stomachs. But in the dream, she was alone in the valley. So utterly alone.
A reddish-grey mist settled in, covering the dreamscape and blotting out the sight of the remembered carnage. The scene dissolved, leaving Mouse alone in the formless dreamland. But not totally alone. Her feet and ankles were stained red from the mess she'd been standing in. She shook her head, both at the lingering memory as well as at the scene itself. It had been a bad business - not just the village, but the whole war. That was why she'd left, in the end.
"Reliving old memories?"
She turned to see Morbus, scythe leaning against one shoulder, standing there. A smile crossed her lips, tinged with the sorrow of the memory she'd just relived.
"You might say that." She shook her head, as if trying to shake the memory. "C'mon. Let's walk and you'll tell me what the hell you've been up to."
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